Comrade Akwuh Okpanachi Muhammed is the Chairman of the Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP), F.C.T Abuja Chapter. He also the Chief Executive Officer of Ajason Plastic and Water Company Ltd. In this interview with Nigeria Project, he appeals to government to come to their rescue as high cost of production is at an alarming stage.
By Chris Agada
What are the major challenges your association is facing at the moment?
The challenges are so numerous and beyond us, which is why we are appealing to government to come to our rescue. We have power (electricity) challenge. This has led to high cost of production, because when you run a business on generator or plant, it will definitely affect the price of the product. Because you need to maintain the generator/plant, buy diesel or petrol as the case maybe. At the end of the day, all these expenses are mopped into the end product which usually affects the cost of the product as well as affecting the producers.
Another challenge we are facing is lack of labour. Our youths are no longer interested in employed or paid job, because of the internet fraud, which is popular known as “Yaho Yaho.” The youths are not ready to be engaged by anybody anymore. They have massively gone into this illicit venture (internet fraud). The EFCC is trying this best but they need to do more; crime and criminality destroy a society. EFCC and other relevant agencies that are in charge of financial or economic fraud should do everything to bring an end to internet fraud.
You also talk about the cost of diesel and fuel. There was a time that the diesel price was dropping but it has started to rise again. Fuel (PMS) is also expensive. Running a business in Nigeria has been a challenge because of all these factors. We are pleading with the government to come to our rescue. Let them give grant to us or give us access to soft loans. I really give kudos to the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his efforts to revive all sectors of the economy. We appreciate him for that, while we are pleading with him and other relevant government agencies to come to the rescue of table water production industries, in order to eradicate or minimize our current operational challenges.
There is saying, “Water is life.” As a stakeholder in water industry, how much does Nigeria as a country value water?
Thank you so much for that brilliant question. If water is life, just as you rightly said. The question now ought to be, how much does the whole world value water? As far as human beings continue to exist on the planet of earth, there must be existence of water. Apart from human being, every living creature needs water to survive – that is how important and relevant water is. On our own, we purify the water we get majorly from borehole to be suitable and healthy for human consumption. The society values water; and the business, if runs under a conducive environment, is rewarding. But the challenge we are facing is that, when you look at the cost of production due to aforementioned reasons, it then because difficult to run the business, which is why some people are cutting corner to keep business afloat, which is not good; and our association (ATWAP) is firmly against that. Good and quality water require a lot of inputs – you talk of chemicals for purification and so many other things; and all that requires money, which is why it has become difficult to survive in harsh economic environment we are in.
What roles has Ministry of Water Resources played to reduce the challenging your association is facing?
I have been in this industry for the past two decades. I have never seen any role that Ministry of Water Resources has played to reduce the challenging we are facing in the industry. For the past twenty years, Ministry of Water Resources has not come up with any programme or package that could benefit the water production industry. It was recently that one agency told us that we will be paying N1m or N2m annually. They said once you sink a borehole, you will pay the fee. The borehole I used my money to sink, I paid the drillers, paid geophysics, paid for pumping machine. Government is now coming that we should pay an annual fee running into million or millions; this is what we are talking about. It is their responsibility to produce healthy water for the people. They failed in that aspect and instead of encouraging people like us that have come out to bridge the gap; they are asking us to pay such amount of money as annual fee. Though, we have not heard from them, and can’t fight them. We are only appealing to them to either eliminate the fee or reduce it. Government has promised us that they want to make Nigeria a country that business would thrive, and we hold them for that.
You talked about majority of youths venturing into “Yaho Yaho,” what do you think is the way out?
The major challenge confronting Nigeria as a nation today is bad economy. We know that internet fraud is bad and it’s a crime. But let’s tell ourselves the truth, if the economy is doing well, before you know it, “yahoo yahoo” will disappear. If you are working and earning around N150,000 or N200,000 per month; and the money has value, some of these guys engaging in this illicit act will leave it. As at today, our currency (Naira) is not strong. Those guys we are talking about also go hungry at times – they don’t cash out always. At times, it may even take them two or more years before cashing out, but they can hit millions. All these things falls on leadership.
For instance, if I don’t need to spend huge money on diesel, petrol, plant or generator, and exorbitant amount we are spending on buying production materials, I can engage some of these youths and pay them well. But in a situation where production cost is so high, where can I have money to pay those young boys good wages? Do you think those guys will like to engage in a venture that when they sight an EFFCC operative or policeman coming through their window, they take to their heels? No, majority of them will dump it.
Nigerian youths that I know want to work – but the meagre salary we are paying can’t take them anywhere because of the weak of our currency. That is why they are now into the illicit venture of internet fraud. Somebody is cashing out millions and you want him to come and work for you for a penny? That is why we are begging our leaders to support us. If the right things are put in place and cost of production reduce drastically, we can have enough resources to pay our youths good wages. This, of course, will reduce the rate of crime in the society. Government should please come to our rescue by creating enabling atmosphere for the business to thrive. That will bring succor to not only us in the industry, but to entire Nigerian people, because everybody needs water.
